


Sharing Quarters

by enigmaticblue



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-03
Updated: 2011-12-03
Packaged: 2017-10-26 20:18:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/287431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This isn't the first time Danny's tried to move out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharing Quarters

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the hc_bingo prompt "abandonment issues."

Danny never meant to spend more than a couple of days on Steve’s couch. He thought he’d be there long enough to find a halfway decent place to live, a place where he didn’t have to worry about Grace getting sick from toxic mold, and where he could take her trick or treating without running into creepy neighbors.

 

At least if he lived in a real neighborhood, Danny would know which neighbors to avoid.

 

Every time Danny thinks he’s found a new place, though, Steve has some reason why it won’t work. The little rental down the street is in the same neighborhood, and Steve has rules against that—although Steve seems to have rules about _everything_.

 

The headphones are a nice gesture, though, offering them a way to share quarters without driving each other crazy.

 

Danny’s second attempt to move out is over before it begins. “I think I found a place,” Danny says a few days later over coffee.

 

There’s a flicker of emotion in Steve’s eyes that Danny can’t place. “Oh, yeah? Where?”

 

Danny rattles off an address and catches the hint of a smug smile. “Huh,” is all Steve says.

 

Later, though, Danny returns to his office after running down a file to find a printout on his desk. For a minute, he has no idea what he’s looking at, and then he realizes that it’s a list of all the crimes that have occurred near his prospective place.

 

Danny knows who’s to blame for this. He walks down to Steve’s office, waving the papers. “What is this?”

 

Steve looks oh-so-innocent. “What’s what?”

 

“What is _this_ , Steven?” Danny demands. “You want to scare me off from living in this place? It’s a good place. It’s a decent place. Also, it gets me off your couch.”

 

“I do have a guest bedroom,” Steve points out. “So, you wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch.”

 

“There isn’t a TV in the bedroom,” Danny replies. “Besides, this is temporary.”

 

Steve’s mouth twists a bit, and then he says, “I just thought you’d want Grace to be safe.”

 

Danny frowns, but he knows when he’s lost the battle. “Fine. I’ll keep looking.”

 

Two days later, Danny comes up with a new address. He’s tempted to move and not to say anything to Steve beforehand because he just _knows_ Steve is going to find another reason that the newest option doesn’t work.

 

Sure enough, when Danny casually leaves the classifieds open on Steve’s desk with the vacancy notice circled in red, he gets an email with a Google map attached. The map has highlighted routes between headquarters and the new place, and the new place and Steve’s, as well as estimated time between all three. “TOO LONG!” reads the note attached to the email.

 

Danny shakes his head and shoots back a response: “I should have taken the rental near you, then.”

 

“Not the same thing,” is Steve’s quick response.

 

Danny stares at those four words and begins to formulate a theory. He doesn’t respond to the email, and when he goes back to Steve’s that night, they drink Longboards out on the _lanai_ and don’t say anything at all about Danny finding a new place.

 

The thing is, Steve baits Danny all the time, and Danny _knows_ that. He’s never learned how to let it go, though, and he kind of enjoys getting worked up. But this is the first real opportunity that Danny’s had to really fuck with Steve, and he’s going to enjoy it.

 

Danny thinks the next option he presents Steve with will be completely unsuitable, just so Steve can tell Danny exactly why it sucks.

 

But as usual, Danny’s plans don’t work out.

 

He ends up leaving the printout from the rental website on the kitchen counter the day Steve announces he’s going to North Korea to help Jenna. Danny doesn’t spend much time at the house in Steve’s absence, even before he figures out that something has gone terribly wrong.

 

The house feels too empty without him. Steve doesn’t make a lot of noise, but Danny still knows he’s there. When Steve’s around, Danny feels like he’s crashing with a friend. With him gone, Danny feels like a guest in someone else’s house. So, he spends a lot of time in the office, and he makes a list of people who might if Danny needs to pull Steve’s ass out of the fire.

 

But then Steve _doesn’t_ respond to the twenty messages Danny leaves, and they get the panicked call from Jenna, and Danny puts his already half-formed plan into motion.

 

The flight to Seoul, the trip to the countryside, the chopper ride, the race to track down the convoy before Wo Fat can make Steve disappear into North Korea—it all passes in a blur, and all Danny can think is, “ _Steve. We have to find Steve._ ”

 

So, really, it’s no surprise that Danny forgets all about fucking with Steve in between looking for Steve and _finding_ Steve, and getting Steve patched up, first in Seoul and then later at the naval base in Pearl. By the time Danny finally pulls up in front of Steve’s place, he’s forgotten all about finding a new place, or about the printout he’d left on the kitchen counter what feels like a lifetime ago.

 

He doesn’t think about it that night, either, because he’s too busy putting Steve to bed, making sure he has a bottle of water on the bedside table and has taken his pain medication.

 

“And do not play tough guy with me,” Danny warns. “You’re going to take your pills and rest like a good boy, do you hear me?”

 

Steve raises his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Yeah, I got it, Danny.”

 

Danny nods. “Good.”

 

He’s exhausted enough not to bother with the couch, and he wants to be close to Steve in case he’s needed in the night. Danny just face plants on the bed in the guest room and passes out, not stirring until the sun wakes him the next morning.

 

Danny pokes his head into Steve’s room briefly but isn’t surprised to find Steve gone. “If he went for a swim, I’m going to kill him myself,” Danny mutters.

 

The smell of coffee lures Danny to the kitchen, and he finds Steve standing in front of the coffee pot, a steaming mug already in his hand.

 

“So, I guess you want to move out.”

 

Danny blinks at the non sequitur. “Huh?” he asks intelligently.

 

Steve turns and shoves a piece of paper at Danny. “You want to move out.”

 

“Uh.” Danny takes the printout and reads it, slowly remembering that he’d left it in the kitchen for Steve to find, just to mess with him. “Actually, I figured you’d tell me what was wrong with this place, too.”

 

“If you want to leave, you can leave, Danno,” Steve shoots back angrily.

 

Danny reaches around Steve for a mug from the cupboard. “You know, you haven’t asked me to stay,” he says, striving to sound reasonable.

 

Steve frowns. “Yeah, I did. I said you could stay until you found a new place.”

 

Danny raises his eyebrows as he pours a cup of coffee.

 

Steve won’t meet his eyes. “Yeah, okay, I see your point. I’m just saying, I don’t want to keep you here. You probably want your own place.”

 

The thing is, Danny knows how to translate Steve-speak by now, and he figures what Steve actually means is “I really want you to stay but I can’t ask you to.” Steve has abandonment issues out the wazoo, and Danny had seen the surprise on Steve’s face when he realized that the whole team had come after him.

 

It seems Danny has his work cut out for him, proving to Steve that there are people who will always come for him.

 

Danny leans back against the counter casually. “You know, that place isn’t any good. I’m pretty sure there’s a crack house next door.”

 

A little of the tension goes out of Steve’s face. “So why were you looking at it?”

 

“We’re police officers, aren’t we? We could bust ‘em when you’re feeling better.”

 

Steve’s mouth twitches. “I guess we could.”

 

“And it’s been hard to find a new place; I could be here for a while,” Danny offers.

 

Steve smiles that sweet grin that makes Danny’s stomach flip. “I kind of like the company,” he admits.

 

“This place felt pretty empty without you,” Danny replies simply.

 

Steve takes a half a step towards Danny and then stops, grimacing.

 

“You in pain?” Danny asks.

 

Steve shrugs and grimaces again. “Yeah.”

 

“Did you take your pills?”

 

“No.”

 

Danny shakes his head. “Babe, you need a keeper.”

 

Steve gives him a hopeful look. “Yeah?”

 

Danny shakes his head and pulls Steve in for a long overdue hug. “You goof,” he says in Steve’s ear. “I’m not letting you go.”

 

And Steve just hangs on tight, his forehead pressed against the top of Danny’s head, and Danny thinks he’ll hold on forever.


End file.
